Gunman was mentally ill, feared public places, says neighbor

NEVADA CITY (AP) -- The man accused of a fatal shooting rampage
in this quiet Gold Rush town feared public places so much he
stopped shopping a year ago, his neighbor said Thursday.

Scott Harlan Thorpe, 40, of Smartville was a client of the
outpatient mental health clinic where he started shooting just
before noon Wednesday, killing two people and wounding a third,
said Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal.

Thorpe then drove to a Lyon's Restaurant in nearby Grass Valley,
about 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, and fatally shot the
manager and wounded a cook because he apparently was convinced the
restaurant was poisoning him, Royal said.

Thorpe was undergoing monthly mental health counseling for his
agoraphobia, his fear of being in public places, said Gary Dalbey,
who lived across the road from Thorpe in rural Smartville.

"He had trouble going shopping, going out in public. Never any
violence -- never," said Dalbey, who has known Thorpe three years.
"Obviously he snapped -- he's not that kind of person,"

A 9mm semiautomatic gun believed to have been used in the
shootings was recovered at Thorpe's home early Thursday, said
Royal. Thorpe surrendered peacefully to deputies the night
before.

Thorpe, who will be arraigned Friday, will be charged with three
counts of murder, with special circumstances that could bring the
death penalty, said Nevada County District Attorney Michael
Ferguson.

Dalbey used to go shopping with Thorpe until about a year ago
when Thorpe quit going to town and mainly stayed on his 11-acre
property about 15 miles west of Grass Valley, Dalbey said.

Thorpe tended to pets and sick animals brought to him by
neighbors, Dalbey said.

"You'd go over there and chickens would fly up on his shoulder,"
Dalbey said.

Thorpe had worked for Grass Valley schools until he became
disabled by a back injury, Dalbey said. He was taking medicine
because the cold aggravated his back injury, he said.

Grass Valley Schools Superintendent Jon Byerrum said Thorpe
passed a fingerprint check before he was hired as a night custodian
at Lyman Gilmore Middle School in May 1988. He resigned in March
1992.

The Nevada County sheriff's department could find no criminal
record for Thorpe, Royal said.

He said investigators have found no personal connection between
Thorpe and any of the victims.

"Chances are they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,"
said Royal.

The restaurant manager, Mike Markle, 24, and a temporary file
clerk at the county building, Laura Wilcox, 19, had each been
working just three days when they died, Nevada County Board
Chairwoman Elizabeth Martin said Thursday.

Wilcox was filling in during her college break and Markle had
just transferred from another Lyon's in Marysville, Martin
said..

Pearlie Mae Feldman, a 68-year-old caregiver, also was killed at
the social services center.

Judith Edzards, 49, was wounded at the center and Daizy Switzer,
35, suffered broken bones jumping out a window there. They were in
critical and serious condition, respectively, at Sutter Roseville
Hospital.

Restaurant cook Richard Senuty, 34, was shot in the chest and
abdomen and was in stable condition Thursday at Sierra Nevada
Hospital in Grass Valley.

Thorpe has refused to talk to investigators, Royal said.

However, Thorpe called his brother Kent, a sergeant with the
Sacramento Police Department, shortly after the shootings to say
"he was disturbed or upset with the personnel" at the mental health
center, Royal said.

He also told his brother that "he felt he was being poisoned" at
the restaurant, Royal said.

Thorpe's brother immediately called Nevada County authorities,
and helped talk his brother into surrendering, Royal said.

On Thursday, James Parrish left a pink handmade cross and
flowers at the government building in memory of Wilcox, his high
school friend.

"She was always laughing, smiling, nice," he said tearfully.

Margie Markle came to the restaurant where her son was slain to
view a heart-shaped floral arrangement and other displays left
outside.

"He touched a lot of people's lives. He was well-loved by
everybody," she told Nevada City radio station KVMR-FM.

As for the gunman, "I'm sorry for this man," she said. "He
obviously is unbalanced."